SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO—September 5— Completed on schedule and within budget, the $12 million Pasternack Field House and the DeYoung Family Math and Science Center will open its doors with a ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony scheduled for Tuesday, September 5, 2006, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School. The Pasternack Field House and DeYoung Center, the single largest building project in St. Margaret’s 27-year history, was funded entirely by charitable gifts from donors who participated in the Legacy Campaign for St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church and School.

The Right Reverend J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and Chairman of the St. Margaret’s Board of Trustees, will bless the new buildings as part of the school’s traditional opening ceremony on the first day of the 2006-2007 school year. The entire school community, including more than 1,200 students, 250 faculty and staff, and many parents, friends, and honored guests will join in the celebration.

The Pasternack Field House includes a full-size gymnasium supporting two basketball or three volleyball courts and bleacher seating for 1,000. The Field House will also serve as a 1,600 seat multi-purpose auditorium for all-school events. Susie Maga, interim athletic director, shared the following, “The completion of the Pasternack Field House comes at a critical time in the evolution of our school’s athletic and physical education departments. For the first time, the school will have these departments gathered under one roof with a main athletic office designed to serve the interests of all 1,200 students across the four divisions of the school.”

The DeYoung Family Math and Science Center includes five new science laboratories and five new classrooms equipped with interactive digital white boards designed to increase student understanding and retention of concepts and their applications. The DeYoung Center also includes an outdoor quad linking the new building to a recently renovated Upper School classroom building and the Tartan Sports Field to complete the high school portion of the St. Margaret’s campus.

St. Margaret’s Headmaster Marcus D. Hurlbut relates, “This is a great day for our school community as we welcome our students and faculty to the beginning of a new school year and the opening of the Pasternack Field House and DeYoung Family Math and Science Center. We look forward to the wide range of programs, activities and events that will take place between these walls for years to come. This is also a day to honor and publicly thank the many generous individuals in our community who dedicated themselves and invested their resources to provide these new facilities.”

As St. Margaret’s celebrates the completion of the Pasternack Field House and DeYoung Family Math and Science Center and other projects comprising Phase I of the school’s master plan, the school community looks forward to breaking ground in the future on Phase II of the campus master plan which includes a new Performing Arts Education Center and a Middle School Classroom Building.

St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, a co-educational independent day school, was founded in 1979 with 79 students attending kindergarten through grade six in temporary structures. By the 1985-1986 school year, students were enrolled from preschool through grade 12. Today, St. Margaret’s serves more than 1,200 students on a beautiful 22-acre campus that includes first class science, technology, library, athletics and performing arts programs. The mission of St. Margaret’s Episcopal School is to educate the hearts and minds of young people for lives of learning, leadership and service.

St. Margaret’s Episcopal School is located at 31641 La Novia in San Juan Capistrano.